According to daily Hospodarske Noviny, Supreme Court chairman Stefan Harbin was the highest earning public official last year, raking in close to EUR 140,000 in official earnings.
Harabin therefore topped the COMBINED salaries of the Prime Minister and the President together, according to data from the obligatory disclosure of property returns of constitutional officials for 2010. Harabin managed to top the list thanks to the many bonuses he received, which the daily calculates at around EUR 50,000-70,000 last year.
The information has obviously got justice minister Lucia Zitnanska’s hackles up, with her referring to the news as impertinent and a kick in the teeth for people who have been trying to deal with the difficult economic situation in Slovakia.
Minister Zitnanska abolished bonuses at the Supreme Court in May as part of austerity measures in the judiciary. Many of Harabin’s favourite judges also did pretty well out of some generous bonuses to date.
Harabin’s comfortable nest egg should serve him well now, as a decision of the Constitutional Court from the end of June over a petition of minister Zitnanska saw him lose 70% of his salary for one year over breach of discipline.